demos

The demonstration will describe how we have exploited and adapted the basic module structure of  Goldberg's LearningWorks environment and thus how we have extended LearningWorks with a set of new programming tools, visualisation tools, and system simulations. The 'module' for LearningWorks is what we have termed the LearningBook, a set of classes and persistent objects, for which we have developed a local standard that includes, for example, an HTML browser and various of the aforementioned tools and systems. The context for this development has been a distance learning university course in object technology which has enrolled over 5,100 mature students in its first year--making it the largest such course in the world. While adhering to the original conception of LearningWorks that it promote systems building, we have successfully added to it to support programming in the small and the needs of the isolated neophyte programmer. Two principles have been pertinent here: (i) that the programming environment and its modules fit into a consistent framework for personal management of study and (ii) that details of facilities, such as the class library, are progressively disclosed as knowledge, experience and sophistication grow. These principles are generally applicable for programming environments and the demonstration will show how we have utilized them when exploiting LearningBook modules. To provide context for what we have built, relevant academic background is given, including the result of early feedback from users. A project currently underway to observe how thousands of learners use the Smalltalk programming environment via an instrumented version is sketched.